


Fireworks

by graysonsflight



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Damian Wayne, no beta we die like robins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24749080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graysonsflight/pseuds/graysonsflight
Summary: Jason hasalwayshated fireworks. He never should have agreed to this particular family outing. It's a good thing Damian is paying attention.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Comments: 26
Kudos: 400





	Fireworks

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I've got neighbors who have been setting off fireworks at the _worst_ times and my hate for them has grown, and turned into this story. Please be aware of the tags and know that I care about you.

Jason ground his teeth together so hard he felt like his jaw was going to snap. All around him people were cheering, oohing and aahing as one brightly colored flash after another exploded its way into the Gotham night’s sky.

He had always hated fireworks. Even as a kid, when everyone else had been enthralled by their colors and sounds, Jason had just seen it as an expensive waste – vapid entertainment for people so rich they could literally blow their money up. Or _worse_ the government putting on a colorful display meant to placate the people into forgetting how bad the social services and safety nets were in their city – to be proud of their freedom for a few minutes instead of hungry for their next meal.

Even the little poppers and bottle rockets favored by Jason’s peers had annoyed him. Growing up in the Narrows it was just as likely to be bullets breaking the quiet of the night as some kid with limited supervision and a pocket full of poppers.

And that was just _before._ After everything that had happened, the _explosions_ hit just a little too close to home, feeling like a razor dancing over his nerve endings. The crowd wasn’t helping either. He was surrounded on all sides. In fact he was pretty sure the only thing keeping him anywhere close to _together_ right now was the fact that the person directly behind him was Dick. Jason would never admit it to the guy’s face – _or to anyone else’s for that matter_ – but knowing Dick was there _helped_.

Jason should have known agreeing to come on this particular family outing was a mistake.

“Todd!”

Jason nearly jumped out of his skin when the little gremlin beside him yanked on his pocket. The kid’s eyes were narrowed, watching him with suspicion when they _should_ have been on the firework’s display Dick had been so eager to share with him in particular.

“What?” Jason demanded when Damian had just continued to stare.

“Are you aware that you’re nearly _vibrating?_ ” he asked, unnervingly perceptive as always.

Jason had to work to unclench his jaw, it felt welded together. “I’m fine,” he managed, even to his own ears sounding anything but.

Damian continued to watch him, his green eyes seeming to absorb every detail. While it was certainly annoying, it did give Jason something else to focus on besides the bangs and pops now increasing in speed. He couldn’t suppress the shudder that tore through him as one particularly loud _green_ rocket lit up the sky. The kid caught it – his lips twisting in a sneer. _Great_ , Jason thought – just what he needed.

“Richard!” Damian shouted, his voice cutting through the sharp cry of the _screamers_ launching into the air. Jason lunged toward him, trying to stop him from making things worse, but he was just a second too slow.

Dick’s eyes dropped down to them both, his smile faltering as he looked between them. Even Tim turned to look, pulling his noise canceling headphones down around his neck.

“What’s up D?” he asked, his eyes catching the way Jason held Damian’s shirt collar between his fingers.

“I would like to leave,” Damian announced, his hands dropping down to his hips defiantly.

Jason’s gut twisted as he watched Dick’s smile fall even further before the Golden Boy caught himself and snapped it back into place.

“Okay, D we can – ”

“No.” Damian interrupted just as another volley three, four, _five, six_ , rockets exploded over them. Jason felt his hand clench even tighter into the fabric of the kid’s shirt, but no one besides Damian seemed to notice, and surprisingly enough, he did nothing about it. Which was _good_ because Jason couldn’t seem to let go.

“No,” the kid repeated, once the fireworks had tapered off a little. “Todd will take me to the car, you stay with Timothy. He so rarely leaves the house the fresh air will do him good.”

Jason didn’t miss the scowl and matching eye roll Tim displayed before bringing his headphones back up, deciding he wanted nothing more to do with the conversation.

“Jay?” Dick asked, lifting his gaze, noticing just how tightly Jason’s hand was knotted in Damian’s shirt. “You good?”

Jason loosened his fingers. He tried to make it look less awkward by flattening his hand on the kid’s shoulder. Which he realized too late only made it _more_ awkward. T _o_ his credit, Damian didn’t move. Dick however, couldn’t keep his eyebrows under control; they flew up into his hairline like _they_ were the damn rockets set on a short fuse.

“ _Huh,_ ” his older brother said. “Yeah, sure thing.” Dick fished the keys out of his jeans and handed them over to Jason. “But I get these back when we come find you!” he called as the two of them started to walk away.

Jason gave a proper single fingered salute over his shoulder, his other hand still on Damian’s shoulder. He couldn’t seem to pull it away; for reasons he couldn’t even begin to understand, it grounded him, and the kid was just _allowing it_ to happen.

Without comment, Damian led them through the assembled masses and towards the parking lot. The startled expressions on the faces of strangers as they pulled back to give them space led Jason to believe Damian was doing his best impersonation of the Batman scowl. Just another thing Jason was grateful for. Jason did his best to remind himself not to dig his fingers in too hard every time the show got a little too loud.

When they finally reached the car, Damian finally turned to look at him.

“Sit.”

Jason dropped his hand: “I’m not one of your pets, kid.”

“Of course not,” Damian said with a huff. “All of my pets are better trained. Now, let me rephrase that: you can either sit inside the car or out in the open. While I hate to admit it, the grass would be better, it might serve as a grounding agent for you.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Jason demanded, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at the kid – who didn’t seem the least bit phased by Jason’s almost foot and a half height difference.

“You’re having an adverse reaction to the fireworks,” Damian deadpanned. “It isn’t surprising really given your history. Frankly, I’m surprised Richard encouraged you to come along – more so that you agreed.”

Jason opened his mouth to argue just as the grand finally started. Even further away from the noise, he could feel his body starting to curve in on itself, subconsciously trying to protect him from a threat. For one heart stopping second, he was convinced he was going to pass out, but the kid was bedside him again, his small hands pushing him against the car and then leading him down to the ground.

“You have to take deep breaths,” Damian insisted, his hands staying on Jason’s arm. “You may attempt to match mine.” The way he began pulling exaggerated lungfuls of air into his small body would have been funny if Jason hadn’t been so busy trying not to puke or blackout.

“How do you – ” Jason gasped. “How do you know about this?” He watched as Damian studied him carefully, fingers pressed into the skin of his arm.

“I have researched how to combat panic attacks,” he said as if it were a normal thing for an eleven year old to be googling on a Friday night.

“Of… of course you have…”

“It would be better if you leaned back.”

Jason did, letting his eyes slip closed, trying to block out the way the sky looked like it was on fire.

“Think on your points of contact,” Damian instructed, reminding Jason of the way Bruce used to talk Dick through panic attacks when they were kids.

“Three things?”

“That will do.”

Jason took a moment to think, trying to reach out with his senses, his fingers digging into the dirt beneath him.

“Okay,” he breathed. “Okay, the car is cold, the grass is wet, and your nails are _sharp_. Geez kid, you’re gonna draw blood.” Damian pulled his hand away sharply. When Jason finally peeled his eyes open again, he could see the way he held them in his lap.

“You seem better,” he mumbled.

Jason turned his eyes skyward and watched as the residual smoke swirled in the moonlight. The crowd was cheering something fierce – but the fireworks appeared to be over. He turned back to look at Damian.

“Enough,” he agreed. “Thanks to you.”

Damian did his best to hide the shock from his face, but Jason still caught it and smiled. “Now,” he said, dangling Dick’s car keys between them. “You wanna ditch those two losers and go get some ice cream?”

The corners of Damian’s mouth twitched up with what Jason could only describe as wicked glee.

“As tempting as that sounds,” he said, “we should wait for Richard and Timothy to join us.”

Jason nodded, impressed by the amount of self-control. “Good thinking,” he nodded. “That way we can make Dickie-bird pay.”

The snort of joy that fell from the kid’s mouth, followed by the blush that crept up over his cheeks, made Jason smile. While tonight hadn’t started out well – it would be the ending that really mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You're comments and kudos are so appreciated 💛💛 May your nights be undisturbed by fireworks!


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